The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) has finalized its recommendations to the U.S. Congress about payment updates for physicians, other healthcare professionals, and hospitals in 2027, the American College of Radiology (ACR) said.
Key recommendations include increasing physician payment rates by 0.5 percentage points above the current law. If enacted, this change would increase Medicare spending by $750 million to $2 billion in one year and by $1 billion to $5 billion over five years, the ACR noted.
ACR also highlighted that in preparation for MedPAC's March report to Congress, the commission finalized a recommendation to update hospital payment rates and add funding for safety net support. For acute general hospitals, this includes following the current-law update for the 2026 base payment rate in 2027 and strengthening the Medicare Safety-Net Index with another $1 billion, according to the college.
